Homemade sweet sauces

Treating yourself to dessert tonight? Why not make it even more tempting and drizzle in a homemade dessert sauce? From Michel Roux's luxurious chocolate sauce to a sweet orange liqueur sauce, we've got lots of delicious sauces to choose from...

Treating yourself to dessert tonight? Why not make it even more tempting and drizzle in a homemade dessert sauce? From Michel Roux’s luxurious chocolate sauce to a sweet orange liqueur sauce, we’ve got lots of delicious homemade sauces to choose from.

Whether you fancy topping your pud with something creamy or you fancy giving your ice cream a jazz of flavour, these sauces are sure to please.

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Homemade sauces obviously take a little more effort than the shop-bought versions but they’re well worth it. So full of flavour and you know exactly what’s going into them – even if they’re not the healthiest of ingredients homemade sauces mean that you can have control over exactly how much sugar goes into each recipe and you can avoid any unwanted additives too.

Click through to see all of our delicious sweet sauces…

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Chocolate sauce

Nothing beats a warm drizzling of chocolate sauce on top of your ice cream or pud. Making your own means a richer, creamier sauce and you can choose what type of chocolate you use in it too - you could even flavour it with mint or orange for a lovely twist.

Serve with: You can serve this delightful sauce with ice cream, profiteroles, cakes or melt-in-the-middle puddings - the choice is yours! You could even add a dash of your favourite liqueur to give it an even naughtier twist.

How to store: This sauce is best made fresh and served warm straight after making so we'd recommend you only make it from scratch and eat in one go.

Raspberry couli

A couli is a smooth pureed sauce made from either fruit or vegetables. This version is made with fresh raspberries and couldn't be tastier. All you need to turn your berries into a couli is some caster sugar and lemon juice.

Serve with: Give your meringues a makeover by serving alongside some refreshing raspberry couli, turn your ice cream sundae into a fancy treat for the whole family or swirl through your favourite rice pudding recipe for a fruity twist. Couli also makes a fruity side to a cheesecake.

How to store: Store this sauce in the fridge for up to two days or store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to two months.

Caramel sauce

Your ice cream sundae would not be complete without a generous helping of sweet, creamy caramel sauce. It only takes two ingredients to make this treat, caster sugar and some double cream - once you realise how easy it is to make, you'll be making it all the time!

Serve with: Spoon some of this thick caramel sauce on top of your ice cream sundae, drizzle over your favourite pud or use as a cake or cheesecake topping. The sauce will get thicker the cooler it gets and should set slightly when cooled in the fridge.

How to store: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. When you want to serve it again, pop into the microwave on a low heat and stir.

Butterscotch sauce

Give your pancakes a new lease of live with this sweet and sticky butterscotch sauce recipe. Golden syrup, double cream and butter make up the basis of this delicious sauce and it's ready in just 20 mins.

Serve with: Pour over fruit to give your fruit salad an extra sweet kick or trickle over pancakes or waffles, it's really up to you.

How to store: Once the sauce has cooled pop into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to two days. If you've like to warm the sauce up again just heat on low in the microwave.

Marmalade sauce

If you're bored of just serving your pud with a helping of custard or a scoop of ice cream, liven things up a bit by making this tangy marmalade sauce instead. The citrus flavour of the Seville oranges will really transform your dessert.

Serve with: You can pop this sticky, tangy marmalade sauce on top of a vanilla sponge cake or pudding, serve it with some chocolate ice cream for a chocolate orange combo or smother onto some French toast with segments of fresh oranges.

How to store: Once the sauce has cooled, pour into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to two days. Reheat before serving. We'd wouldn't recommend freezing this sauce.

Dulce de leche

It's super easy to make this thick, toffee-like sauce by the Hairy Bikers. All you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk - and that's it!

Serve with: Pour this thick, luxurious sauce onto fresh fruit or use as the toffee in banoffee pie, Millionaire's shortbread or you could even use it as a cake filling. Pour onto scoops of vanilla or chocolate ice cream or serve with a slice of cheesecake.

How to store: This sauce is best served freshly prepared and used up in one go.

Cherry sauce

If you've got a glut of cherries sitting in the fridge or freezer it's time to make this sweet, cherry-infused sauce. It really doesn't take long to make either, just a few minutes on the hob to soften the cherries and ta-dah, you've got a delicious dessert sauce.

Serve with: This sauce would be perfect drizzled on a slice of Bakewell tart, poured onto waffles or layered between smooth, velvety scoops of ice cream - whichever way you decide to serve it, you'll want to make this sauce time and time again.

How to store: If you've got any sauce leftover store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days. We wouldn't recommend freezing this sauce, especially if you've used frozen cherries.

Rum and walnut sauce

If you love the warm, comforting feeling of rum in a dessert, you're going to love this sauce. The nutty, earthy flavour from the walnuts and the warming sensation from the rum is a mouth watering combination. A dash of double cream, a sprinkle of sugar and you've got a masterpiece.

Serve with: Perfect served with warm puddings or tray bakes, you could even experiment and use this sauce as a topping when making a coffee and walnut cake or even a carrot cake. Drizzle on pancakes, ice cream and sweet tarts like custard tarts.
How to store: We'd recommend serving this sauce fresh once made but if you've got any leftover pop into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to two days.

Orange liqueur sauce

Give your dessert an adult spin by whipping up this tasty orange liqueur sauce. Some soya milk, orange rind and sugar go a long way in this recipe and will transform any plain pud - trust us!
Serve with: Swap your usual brandy coating for the Christmas pudding for this sauce instead, trickle over ice cream or fruit or even serve with mini meringues, rice pudding or cheesecake too.

How to store: This sauce is best served fresh and warm. If you've got any leftover you could pop it into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to two days, but remember the fresher, the better!